Key NBC Show Takes a Big Hit in the Ratings

One of NBC’s top shows of the season suffered a ratings setback Wednesday night, according to Nielsen overnight figures, but the network was still able to win the night.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that NBC’s two-hour “The Voice” settled for a 3.7 average rating in the key demo of viewers 18-49. That was down almost a full rating point from last Tuesday’s 4.6 average — with at least part of that dip attributable to airing out of cycle as the show was moved to Wednesday because of the presidential election.

The Wednesday installment of the hit singing competition helped pump up its leadout; “Chicago Fire” delivered a respectable 2.3 average rating in 18-49 at 10 p.m., up 27% from the 1.6 it had a week earlier and tied with CBS’s “CSI” for the top spot in the time period.

NBC was the outright winner for prime time in viewers 18-49 with a 3.2 average rating, ahead of ABC (2.8 average), CBS (2.7) and Fox (2.6). CBS claimed the top spot in total viewers with 10.9 million, topping NBC (9.3 million), ABC (8.0 million) and Fox (7.0 million).

ABC was up across the board, paced by “Modern Family,” the top show of the night with a 4.7 in the 18-49 demo — a significant uptick from its 4.2 a week ago. “The Middle” rose two-tenths to a 2.8, “Suburgatory” was up five-tenths to a 2.9, “The Neighbors” was up two-tenths to a 2.1, and “Nashville” ticked up two-tenths to a 2.0.

CBS had mixed results, with “Survivor: Philippines” up two-tenths from a week ago to a 2.7 in 18-49 and “Criminal Minds” up one-tenth to a 3.0, while “CSI” slipped one-tenth to a 2.3.

Fox’s two-hour “X Factor” was down one-tenth from last week in the 18-49 demo, settling for a 2.6.